Digital imaging technologies are transforming both the amateur and professional photographic markets. Digital imaging components are getting better, faster, cheaper, and are mimicking microprocessor price and power curves. In particular, the overall quality and resolution of digital cameras and images are improving exponentially and have reached conventional photographic quality at competitive retail price levels. Despite the advances in digital technology, many traditional photographic processes rely on silver-halide film systems to develop prints taken using a conventional film camera. This is particularly true in the professional portrait studio industry, which accounts for approximately 25 percent of the United States photographic market. The US professional portrait studio industry is dominated by four portrait companies, which operate thousands of portrait studios using conventional systems and processes described below.
More specifically, conventional photography systems usually incorporate one of a very few number of processes. In one process, a photographer using a traditional film camera takes a limited number of exposures and sends the film to a laboratory without the customer having the opportunity to preview or select any exposures. A laboratory technician prepares a selection of final prints based on speculation as to which prints the customer will most likely purchase. The final prints are then sent to the photography studio, and the customer purchases prints from the pre-selected final prints.
In another process, a limited number of photographs are taken, and the exposed film is sent to a laboratory for development, which can take several weeks. Proofs are then returned to the customer or photography studio, whereby the customer selects the desired prints and may or may not provide additional instructions concerning corrections to the selected prints. The final prints are then made at the laboratory and sent to the customer.
In yet another process, a video camera is used to mimic the exposures taken with the film camera. The customer is able to preview the video camera recordings, which are close representations of the film exposures. The customer makes initial purchasing decisions based on the video preview, and the film is sent to the laboratory for development. The remainder of the process is similar to the processes described above. The preview method is advantageous in that the customer is allowed to see a somewhat similar view of the exposures taken during the photography session. However, the preview shots or exposures are only representations of the actual exposures, and the customer still has to wait several weeks for the film to be processed before receiving the final prints. And in addition to the delay in obtaining the final prints, backgrounds and customization features are limited to the number of backdrops and developing features provided by the studio and laboratory.
In yet another system, a digital camera is used to capture one image at a time, whereby the customer can view the image as soon as it is taken and either 1) approve the image and move to the next portrait setting, or 2) disapprove the image and take another image until satisfied. The approved images are then sent to a traditional printing facility and the customer must wait several weeks for the prints. Other types of printing could be used as well.
Some photography systems utilize digital technology to enhance traditional film prints or to correct defects therein. Many of these systems, however, simply create a digital image taken from a traditional film print, which is wasteful and loses resolution in converting the film image to a digital image. In some cases the digital image can be customized with borders or the like, but the customer's selection is limited to a small number of images taken using the traditional film camera. Thus, there is a need to provide a photography system and related methods, and more particularly a portrait system and related methods, whereby the customer can select from a wide range of images, and whereby the customer can customize the images and receive final prints quickly and efficiently. There is also a need to provide methods of ordering and selecting portrait images that reduce cycle time and provide the customer with precise information regarding how the final prints will look.